Blog #10: Villanueva

One term that really stuck out to me was the "cultural hybrid". In this case, Villanueva is talking about someone who is of a mixed cultural and racial background. It seems that often times this can inhibit someone’s ability to fit in with any of the cultures they represent. In the example in the reading, Villanueva is talking about how a Puerto Rican may not fit in with the white culture because he is not white (and some may just ignorantly assume that he is a Mexican), yet he doesn’t fit in with the Mexicans because while he is what some may call “Hispanic” his culture is completely different than that of Mexicans. What I find interesting about this is that it seems to affect some races and cultures more than others. For example, I hear about this more with say a Mexican American or an Asian American than with people of mixed European descent. It seems that “white” cultures don’t have as much trouble with this, for example someone who is an American of German and French background may not have to deal with this kind of thing. On the other hand, I could just be unaware of it because of my basically “white” descent and my largely “white” surroundings.

For my questions I chose the reading “Fake Polygons” by Anne-Marie Schleiner for a couple of reasons. For starters, I feel like it could be one of those sections that we read long enough ago it might have been forgotten about and I doubt that anyone else will use it. Also, I think it is an important subject because video games seem to be the outlet for many downfalls of society like sexism, racism, etc. and is still a largely male dominated field.

So my multiple choice question:

Schleiner (Fake Polygons) would say Lara Croft is a(n)

a. Demeaning, negative image of the female form idealized by the male gaze.
b. Positive role model for girls allowing them an entrance into gaming and game design.
c. Outlet for repressed male homoeroticism, allowing them to ‘try on' the opposite sex in a safe environment.
d. All of the above

And my True or False question:

According to Schleiner, video games are an important tool which young boys use to learn computer skills, collaboration, strategizing, and puzzle solving, and this tool should be expanded to more actively include girls.

True

Works Cited

Villanueva, Victor. Bootstraps: From an American Academic of Color. IL: Urbana, 34-50. eBook.

Schleiner, Anne-Marie. "Does Lara Croft Wear Fake Polygons? Gender and Gender-Role Subversion in Computer Adventure Games." MIT Press 221-226. Web. 3 Nov 2010. .